Las Vegas and L.A. Paying Residents To Get Rid Of Lawns

by Missy on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Wow! Very interesting development coming out of Las Vegas and now Los Angeles. These two cities are paying residents to have their lawns replaced with more water-friendly options.

As lawns consume a great deal of water and just about every SFH (single family home) has one, cities are seriously (very seriously) looking into how to abate this water-hungry problem.

LA for example has decided to incorporate a new program that would pay a homeowner up to $2,000 (in the form of a rebate) to literally tear out their lawns and instead replace with native low-water plants or mulch.

Las Vegas is doing the same, but paying homeowners abit more. The purpose of these two programs is to lessen the use of municipal water.

Wow! I’m not sure why I’m so surprised at this, but I am. Lawns are such a part of the American experience, it’s odd to imagine a series of homes in a neighborhood without lawns. But I suppose its the new coming.

How about you. How do you feel about this new water saving program?

via The Dirt
http://dirt.asla.org/2009/06/29/los-angeles-offers-rebate-for-ripping-out-lawns/

image via Oregon Live
http://blog.oregonlive.com/kympokorny/2007/11/

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Tags: city, government program, L.A, landscape, Las Vegas, lawns, Los Angeles, low water, mulch, single family, water friendly

Categories: Conservation, Eco Friendly.

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Kevin Webb

What an excellent idea!

This initiative doesn't just save probably millions of gallons of water, that in many cases runs down the sidewalks and into sewers - a portion of it not even reaching the lawn.

Eliminating grass would also eliminate noise and air pollution.

There would be no need for loud lawn mowers to cut grass.

Giving up grass would also minimize our carbon footprint as well by not using gas and oil to cut it.

Many lawnmowers - using small combustion engines - have been known to pollute much at the rate of several cars.

When grass is not cut, there is no longer any need for a gas-powered (likely two-stroke) leaf blower to tidy up the mess lawnmowers leave behind.

Missy

Excellent points, Kevin. There's definitely a few reasons the gov't is willing to pay for getting rid of lawns.

Thx for coming by!

skraaeling

Replace the lawn and trees with fruit bearing trees and a garden. It may not cut down on total water bill, but will reduce carbon output by eliminating trips to the market for produce.

dwayneq

These are all excellent ideas. I’m resident of Los Angeles County who is now impacted by LA County water rationing measures. The increase definitely hits the pocket to where I’m now considering total removal of all the grass and replacing with decorative rock/mulch. The idea of having a rock garden came from several trips to Scottsdale Arizona. In my opinion there is so much artist beauty and creativity when developing these types of gardens. Being in the dumpster/container rental business, we’re now seeing a significant increase in the replacement of grass with artificial grass. The price of artificial grass is still a considerable investment where the return of your investment is a far stretch. Taking it to the next step, I might even consider artificial plants! Any recommendations here?